Host-Controlled Modification and Restriction of Bacteriophage T7 by Escherichia coli B

T7 phage resists Escherichia coli B host-controlled modification and restriction in vivo, but its DNA carries roughly five sites which are susceptible to the purified enzymes.     

Bacteriophage T4-Mediated Release of Envelope Components from Escherichia coli

When Escherichia coli B, labeled by prior growth in ¹⁴C-glucose, are infected with T4 phage there is a rapid release of ¹⁴C-nondialyzable material into the medium. About half of this material is derived from the cell envelope as evidenced by its content of phospholipid and lipopolysaccharide and its buoyant density upon isopycnic ultracentrifugation of 1.19 g/cm³. It is similar in its gross chemical and physical properties to envelope material released at a lower rate from growing uninfected cells or from cells whose protein synthesis is inhibited by chloramphenicol (22). The rate of release of this envelope material at a multiplicity of infection (MOI) of 10 is greatest in the first minute after infection, and release is completed by 4 min. The rate of its release, as a function of MOI at 2 min after infection, is greatest at low MOI (e.g., MOI 2 and 4); in addition, the release does not continue above MOI 30. The main conclusion derived from the data is that phage, as part of the process of adsorption and injection of DNA, cause an increased release of envelope substance from the cells. With the assumption that all of the envelope material released is derived from the outer envelope, it is estimated that uninfected cells release 20 to 30% of their outer envelope per hour, whereas infected cells release 30% in 2 min at MOI 30. Further, because release does not continue at high MOI, this phenomenon is not considered to be a direct cause of lysis from without. Data are also presented on the amounts of other non-dialyzable ¹⁴C-components released and on the differences in the kinetics of release from chloramphenicol-treated cells compared to phage-infected cells. To avoid the possibility that the release is due to phage lysozyme which is an adventitious “contaminant” of wild-type phage, a phage mutant (T4BeG59s) devoid of this enzyme was used in these experiments.     

Effect of Hydroxyurea on Replication of Bacteriophage T4 in Escherichia coli

Hydroxyurea inhibited the replication of bacteriophage T4 in Escherichia coli B. The concentration of hydroxyurea required to inhibit net deoxyribonucleic acid (DNA) synthesis 50% was about 50-fold less than that required in uninfected cells. Even in the presence of high hydroxyurea concentrations, phage DNA was readily synthesized from the products of breakdown of the E. coli DNA, and viable phage were made. Deoxyribonucleotide, but not ribonucleotide, synthesis was strongly inhibited in the presence of hydroxyurea. The data indicate that hydroxyurea specifically inhibits de novo DNA synthesis in E. coli infected with bacteriophage T4 by inhibiting the ribonucleoside diphosphate reductase system, but does not affect DNA synthesis at subsequent steps.     

Bacteriophage T5 gene A2 protein alters the outer membrane of Escherichia coli.

Evidence for changes in Escherichia coli envelope structure caused by the bacteriophage T5 gene A2 protein was obtained by the use of mutant bacteriophages, envelope fractionation procedures, electrophoretic analysis, and in vitro binding studies with purified gene A2 protein. The results suggested that the T5 gene A2 protein perturbs the host envelope as it functions to promote DNA transfer.     

Site- and Gene-specific Limited Heterocatalytic Expression in Bacteriophage T4-infected Escherichia coli

Genetic evidence for site- and gene-specific variation in limited heterocatalytic expression in phage T4-infected Escherichia coli is reported, and the implications of such variation are discussed.     

Letter: The isolation and properties of the specific binding sites for Escherichia coli RNA polymerase on T4 and T7 bacteriophage DNAs.

RNA polymerase of Escherichia coli was allowed to bind to labeled T4 or T7 bacteriophage DNA. The unbound and “weakly” bound polymerase molecules were removed by adding an excess of poly(I) which has a high affinity for the enzyme (Bautz et al., 1972). After the unbound DNA regions were digested with pancreatic DNAase and snake venom phosphodiesterase, the “protected” DNA-RNA polymerase complexes were isolated by Sephadex G200 column chromatography. The protected DNA sites were then isolated by phenol extraction and hydroxylapatite chromatography. Studies of the DNA recognition regions led to the following conclusions. (1) No binding is observed in the absence of the sigma subunit or at low temperatures. (2) The amount of protection ranges from 0·18% to 0·24% of T4 DNA and from 0·25% to 0·34% of T7 DNA. In the absence of poly(I), higher protections are observed and the protected regions display heterogeneity in size and secondary structure. (3) The protected regions are double-stranded, as shown by hydroxylapatite chromatography, base composition analysis, and thermal chromatography. (4) The length of the protected regions comprise about 50 to 55 nucleotide pairs, as suggested by end-group analysis, sucrose density-gradient centrifugation, and polyacrylamide gel electrophoresis. (5) The results suggest the interaction of dimeric polymerase molecules at these sites. On the basis of DNA sizes, there are 7 to 9 such sites on T4 DNA and 2 to 3 on T7 DNA. (6) The protected regions are high in (A + T): 68% for T4 and 62% for T7 DNA. (7) Thermal chromatograms reflect these base compositions and suggest the homogeneity of these regions with respect to size and base composition.     

Occurrence of Lysophosphatides in Bacteriophage T4rII-Infected Escherichia coli S/6

Hydrolysis of phospholipids was observed to start about 15 min after Escherichia coli S/6 cells were infected with T4rII bacteriophage mutants. Hydrolysis continued through the latent period and well past the time when cell lysis occurs. The hydrolytic products that accumulated were free fatty acids, 2-acyl lysophosphatidylethanolamine, and various lysocardiolipins. These products indicated the action of phospholipase A(1). From 15 to 22 min after infection, there were equivalent amounts of fatty acids and lysophosphatides in extracts of cellular lipids. Thereafter, free fatty acids were produced in excess. This suggests that lysophospholipase was active at the later time. We also observed a stoichiometric relation between loss of phosphatidylglycerol and increase of cardiolipin plus lysocardiolipins. This continued well past the normal lysis time (25 min). The appearance of lipase activities during the latent period seems to be specific to infection with rII mutants. Neither the wild-type bacteriophage nor rI mutants produced similar activities by 22 min after infection.     

Bacteriophage Tail Components IV. Pteroyl Polyglutamate Synthesis in T4D-Infected Escherichia coli B

The nature of pteroyl polyglutamates in uninfected and T4D bacteriophage-infected Escherichia coli B has been examined. (3)H-p-aminobenzoic acid has been used to label the folate compounds and gel permeation chromatography on glass beads to separate the folate compound by molecular size. It has been found that, although the major folate compound in uninfected bacteria is pteroyl triglutamate, E. coli B cells also contain folate compounds having as many as six glutamate residues. Infection with T4D stimulated the addition of glutamate residues to the lower-molecular-weight host pteroyl compounds, resulting in the conversion of the host compounds into the hexaglutamate form. This viral-induced conversion is chloramphenicol sensitive and appears to be due to a late phage gene product. The phage gene responsible for this conversion has not been identified. In cells infected with a T4D mutant defective in gene 28, there was an apparent production of the large pteroyl polyglutamates equivalent in size to pte(glu)(9-12). These high-molecular-weight forms were converted into pte(glu)(6) by incubation with bacterial extracts made after infection with T4D 28(+). Apparently, the product of T4D gene 28(+) is capable of specifically cleaving the high-molecular-weight polyglutamates to the form necessary for phage tail assembly.     

Reversible Repression of Early Enzyme Synthesis in Bacteriophage T4-infected Escherichia coli

A mutant of Escherichia coli B, defective in its accumulation of K⁺, was found to synthesize protein at a rate proportional to the level of this cation in the growth medium. When bacteriophage T4-infected cells were incubated in growth medium containing 1 mm K⁺, phage deoxyribonucleic acid (DNA) was synthesized at a rate 25% that of normal, and phage protein was synthesized at a rate of 50% of normal. Deoxycytidine pyrophosphatase, a phage-directed early enzyme, shut off at a level of 55% that of normal when infected cells were incubated in medium containing 1 mm K⁺. However, deoxycytidine pyrophosphatase synthesis resumed in these cells when they were shifted to medium containing the normal K⁺ concentration (33 mm). DNA synthesis also attained the rate characteristic of this K⁺ concentration. These results suggest that phage DNA synthesis is not sufficient to repress early protein formation and also indicate that the inhibitor of early protein formation is an early function whose synthesis is sensitive to the same repression as that of the early proteins.     

Bacteriophage T7 morphogenesis and gene 10 frameshifting in Escherichia coli showing different degrees of ribosomal fidelity.

Summary Bacteriophage T7 infection has been studied in Escherichia coli strains showing both increased and decreased ribosome fidelity and in the presence of streptomycin, which stimulates translational misreading, in an effort to determine effects on the apparent programmed translational frameshift that occurs during synthesis of the gene 10 capsid protein. Quantitation of the protein bands from SDS-PAGE failed to detect any significant effects on the amounts of the shifted 10B protein relative to the in-frame 10A protein under all fidelity conditions tested. However, any changes in fidelity conditions led to inhibition of phage morphogenesis in single-step growth experiments, which could not be accounted for by reduced amounts of phage protein synthesis, nor, at least in the case of decreased accuracy, by reduced amounts of phage DNA synthesis. Reduction in phage DNA synthesis did appear to account for a substantial proportion of the reduction in phage yield seen under conditions of increased accuracy. Similar effects of varying ribosomal fidelity on growth were also seen with phage T3, and to a lesser extent with phage T4. The absence of change in the high-frequency T7 gene 10 frameshift differs from earlier reports that ribosomal fidelity affects low-frequency frameshift errors.     

大肠杆菌VT2噬菌体的分离与溶源转染

本试验利用指示菌MC1061。经双层琼脂法纯化和PCR扩增vt2基因,分别从大肠杆菌0157菌株、牛粪、鸡粪和污水中分离获得5株含vt2基因的噬菌体。这些噬菌斑透明,直径为0．5-2min,对指示菌的感染效价均在10^9PFU／mL以上,抵抗氯仿和56℃30min的作用。将噬菌体分离株SHφWl感染MC1061后。经PCR鉴定获得一株溶源菌株(MC1061／SHφW1)。溶源株的LB培养滤液对Vero细胞产生了显著的病变效应,而MC1061在同等条件下培养的滤液无细胞病变,表明VT2噬菌体通过溶源将vt2毒力基因水平转移,证实了VT2噬菌体的转染与细菌毒力相关。     

Unfolding of the Host Genome After Infection of Escherichia coli with Bacteriophage T4

The folded genome of Escherichia coli is converted to a slower-sedimenting form within 5 min after infection with bacteriophage T4 or T4nd28(den A)-amN82(44). Chloramphenicol sensitivity and response to UV-irradiation of the phage suggest participation of viral-induced functions.     

Accelerated Adsorption of Bacteriophage T5 to Escherichia coli F, Resulting from Reversible Tail Fiber-Lipopolysaccharide Binding

A dual specificity for phage T5 adsorption to Escherichia coli cells is shown. The tail fiber-containing phages T5(+) and mutant hd-3 adsorbed rapidly to E. coli F (1.2 x 10(-9) ml min(-1)), whereas the adsorption rate of the tail fiber-less mutants hd-1, hd-2, and hd-4 was low (7 x 10(-11) ml min(-1)). The differences in adsorption rates were due to the particular lipopolysaccharide structure of E. coli F. Phage T4-resistant mutants of E. coli F with an altered lipopolysaccharide structure exhibited similar low adsorption for all phage strains with and without tail fibers. The same held true for E. coli K-12 and B which also differ from E. coli F in their lipopolysaccharide structures. Only the tail fiber-containing phages reversibly bound to isolated lipopolysaccharides of E. coli F. Infection by all phage strains strictly depended on the tonA-coded protein in the outer membrane of E. coli. We assume that the reversible preadsorption by the tail fibers to lipopolysaccharide accelerates infection which occurs via the highly specific irreversible binding of the phage tail to the tonA-coded protein receptor. The difference between rapid and slow adsorption was also revealed by the competition between ferrichrome and T5 for binding to their common tonA-coded receptor in tonB strains of E. coli. Whereas binding of T5(+) to E. coli K-12 and of the tail-fiber-less mutant hd-2 to E. coli F and K-12 was inhibited 50% by about 0.01 muM ferrichrome, adsorption of T5 to E. coli F was inhibited only 40% by even 1,000-fold higher ferrichrome concentrations.     

Effect of Myxin on Deoxyribonucleic Acid Synthesis in Escherichia coli Infected with T4 Bacteriophage

Exposure of Escherichia coli cells to myxin results in the almost complete inhibition of new deoxyribonucleic acid (DNA) synthesis, extensive degradation of pre-existing intracellular DNA, and a rapid loss of viability in these cells (9). After exposure to myxin for 30 min (<1% survivors and >25% degradation of DNA), infection of these cells by T4 bacteriophage results in the renewal of DNA synthesis at a rate essentially equal to that found in T4-infected cells in the absence of myxin. This DNA was characterized as T4 DNA by hybridization and by hydroxyapatite chromatography. These results suggest that the primary site of action of myxin does not involve the biochemical pathways involved in either the energy metabolism or the biosynthesis of DNA precursors in the uninfected host cell. The yield of infectious T4 particles was reduced when myxin was present during multiplication. This effect may be partly accounted for by the finding that a significant fraction of the T4 DNA synthesized in the presence of myxin is apparently not properly enclosed by the bacteriophage protein coat since it is shown to be degraded by exogenous nuclease.